Supplementation of the diets with hydroponic maize fodder affects digestibility, puberty, sexual behavior, and semen characteristics in buck kids

Hydroponics is one of the widely adopted technologies for fodder production in arid and semi-arid regions. In addition to the benefits such as shorter growth period and minimal water and land use, it also produces nutritious fodder that contains essential nutrients required for the growth and reprod...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Tropical animal health and production 2021-06, Vol.53 (2), p.310-310, Article 310
Main Authors: Ebenezer, Rachel Jemimah, Paulpandi, Tensingh Gnanaraj, Siva Kumar, T., Gopinathan, A., Meenakshi Sundaram, S.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Arid regions
Arid zones
Biomedical and Life Sciences
Corn
Diet
Digestibility
Dry matter
Essential nutrients
Fodder
Forage
Hydroponics
Land use
Life Sciences
Livestock
Livestock feed
Nutrient solutions
Nutrients
Organic matter
Puberty
Regular Articles
Reproduction
Semen
Semi arid areas
Semiarid lands
Sexual behavior
Veterinary Medicine/Veterinary Science
Zoology
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Summary:Hydroponics is one of the widely adopted technologies for fodder production in arid and semi-arid regions. In addition to the benefits such as shorter growth period and minimal water and land use, it also produces nutritious fodder that contains essential nutrients required for the growth and reproduction of livestock. This study was conducted to evaluate the effect of feeding hydroponic maize fodder on the reproductive performance of buck kids. Twenty-four Tellicherry buck kids aged around 3 months were randomly selected and allocated into three treatment groups, namely, control, treatment 1 (T1), and treatment 2 (T2). Experimental diets were formulated by replacing the concentrate with hydroponic maize fodder at 0% (control), 25% (T1), and 50% (T2) level. The buck kids supplemented with hydroponic maize fodder attained puberty earlier (T1, 246.50 ± 2.61 days; T2, 241.00 ± 2.06 days) ( P < 0.05); had higher ( P < 0.05) scrotal circumference, testicular volume, and fresh semen characteristics; and exhibited intense sexual behaviors than the non-supplemented kids. Furthermore, hydroponic maize fodder supplementation improved the digestibility of dry matter (DM) ( P < 0.01), organic matter (OM) ( P < 0.01), crude fiber (CF) ( P < 0.05), ether extract (EE) ( P < 0.01), and nitrogen-free extract (NFE) ( P < 0.01) in the kids. In conclusion, hydroponic maize fodder feeding did not have any negative impact on the reproductive performance of kids. Furthermore, the hydroponic maize fodder supplementation enhanced the kids’ nutrient digestibility and reproductive performance.
ISSN:0049-4747
1573-7438
DOI:10.1007/s11250-021-02761-9